Cleve Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 The following is simply copied from a post I made at AudioKarma's forums this morning... I felt like this is my craziest Epay purchase yet - a N.O.S. Klipsch CF-4 that was in Seattle. Let me detail the craziness... 1. The speaker weighs 108 lbs unpacked 2. I'm gonna be using it as a CENTER channel to match my existing pair of CF-4s. Timbre match and all that jazz. 3. The Seller specified "Local Pickup Only" 4. Again, the speaker is in SEATTLE, some 2650 miles from my locale in Western NYS. "Local pickup" indeed. Factoring all the above, the logical right-side of my brain said "Fuhgeddaboutit" i.e, walk away and wait for a closer auction. But the impulsive, idiot left-side of my brain, the one I make most of my purchasing decisions with, said "Go for it!" After all, CF-4s I've found are rather scarce, just slightly more plentiful then hen's teeth. Even more rare, a single CF-4, rather than a pair. So, of course, I went "for it". I did, at least, do some investigating. According to the seller, even though it was essentially a new speaker, the original factory box/crate was M.I.A. That was my first hope, and would have made life easy. However, then I looked into it - there was a FedEx-Kinkos with a couple miles of the seller's locale. They do packing and then shipping via Fed Ex Ground. My McIntosh 2205 was packed and shipped via this method last year, with great success. In the auction, he had offered local delivery, so I figured I'd have the gent drop the speaker off at the FedEx-Kinkos and I'd handle the rest. So I won the auction for a mere $250. CF-4s regularly sell for 800-1000 a pair used, if you can get them at all. I estimated via Fed Ex's website that ground shipping would be about $70 - and maybe another 50-60 bucks for packing. The seller told me he was willing to drop it off for me. So, my plan was coming together. Then, the morning after the auction I call the Fed-Ex Kinkos to make arrangements. I learned, to my dismay, that the largest packing they do is 24" x 24" x24" (the CF-4 is ~ 44" tall!) I suggested that perhaps they conjoin two of their largest boxes together in order to ship the speaker? The reluctance with which this suggestion was met made me decide this wasn't gonna work. As they say, the best laid plans of mice and men.... Now I'm feeling exceptionally stupid - I have a paid for speaker on the other side of the friggin' continent. I'm not just gonna walk away from it - whatever it costs/takes its gonna come to me! The right side of my brain is now smirking at me... After checking on the web for packing services in Seattle (I found one freight company that would charge a paltry $500!) I gave Mailboxes Etc a try. I called the store and spoke with an employee, and he indicated that he thought it would cost about $188. This would include them picking up the speaker from the seller, taking it back to the store for packing, and then UPS Ground shipping from there to here with $400 in insurance. Expensive, but at least I'd get it. So I e-mailed the seller, and told him about the change of plans. I got his address, phone number, and hours of availability and called MBE back to finalize. Then the fellow said he was very sorry, but there'd been a mistake - it was going to cost $288 - he'd misread his charts but didn't have my contact info to call me back !!! At this point, I wanted to tell him to shove it - that's almost 40 dollars more than I paid for the speaker! But I was caught between a rock and a hard place and fast running out of options. As Jean-Luc Picard might say - "Make it so!" Now the right side of my brain is outright laughing at me... At least the service was speedy - when I made these arrangements, it was late in the day Tuesday in Seattle. MBE picked the CF-4 up yesterday morning from the seller, packed it and shipped it out mid-afternoon yesterday. Expected delivery is next Wednesday, 6/29. Of course, I'm at the mercy of their packing, and UPS shipping. For $288 it better be substantially packed! Say a prayer for me, Argentina! If that sucker shows up in a bad way... The right side of my brain is gonna be roaring in laughter at me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted June 23, 2005 Share Posted June 23, 2005 I hope it all works out for you and it arrives in good shape. I hope you specified to them the way you wanted it packed! I would feel guilty if it did not work out since I kinda pointed you to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleve Posted June 29, 2005 Author Share Posted June 29, 2005 Well, here she is... The CF-4 survived its 2700 mile trek from Seattle to here. The speaker was packed decent - doubleboxed, and well padded. I'm glad it was doubleboxed - there were 3 or 4 good sized holes punched in the outer box. However, I think the seller was a bit optimistic in throwing out terms like New Old Stock. It might well have been brand new up until it was recently discovered - but it looked like somebody had since been using it for a stage/pa speaker or something zany like that, not just a one day 'picnic'. Quite a few dents/dings in the veneer, and it's been modded with some oddball pegs next to the factory feet - like it was intended to be somehow stacked atop something else. And the corners on the back of the speaker have had some kind of plastic reinforcements/brackets added. However, since I've laid it sideways on the floor, and set a tv atop it, most of those blemishes are hidden. Sonically, it tests fine, which is what matters, and $250 bucks isn't a terrible price. I got some neighborhood guys to give me a hand moving all this hefty equipment around - and got her hooked up, the levels balanced, and ready to go. In a word - AWESOME! The soundstage is totally seamless from left to right. I guess timbre IS important. And boy, do vocals sound a lot better than the RC-25 it replaces. Now when I get another pair for rear surround, and a couple more McIntosh amps and a Mac A/V preamp, I'll be all set! Simple, huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted June 29, 2005 Share Posted June 29, 2005 Yeah, and a big ole RPTV to lay it on top of. Excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 "Now when I get another pair for rear surround, and a couple more McIntosh amps and a Mac A/V preamp" Ahhhh, now THAT'S the spirit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frzninvt Posted June 30, 2005 Share Posted June 30, 2005 Now you understand why I am totally adiment about having the correct timbre matching center! It makes a BIG difference, those that compromise thinking that they have a good match with a different series speaker are merely fooling themselves and have no idea that things can sound significantly better with a matching speaker. I am glad it all worked out and you have the ULTIMATE matching center to your CF-4's. There is a pair of CF-3's on eBay right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cleve Posted July 1, 2005 Author Share Posted July 1, 2005 ---------------- On 6/30/2005 7:04:31 AM Frzninvt wrote: I am glad it all worked out and you have the ULTIMATE matching center to your CF-4's. There is a pair of CF-3's on eBay right now. ---------------- I'm going to wait and buy another pair of CF-4s this fall. No sense in compromising at this late stage - if I'm going to do it, I should do it right! BTW, I've had a chance to do some more listening - I scanned through my DVDs of K-19 and Kill Bill last night. I also reconfigured the system so my Mac4100's amp section is powering the center CF-4, rather than the somewhat anemic Dynaco HT amplifier. I can't believe the difference that a full-size, heavy hitting speaker in the center makes. Especially in Kill Bill - those fight scenes funnel a lot of sound effects through the center. In the second scene, where Black Mamba fights Copperhead at her suburban house - the impacts are painfully loud, and consuming in excess of 30 watts just for the center. When Copperhead fires the gun - I could feel the pressure in my ears, like it was a real shot. Something else - the narrative dialogue is VERY close miked - I couldn't tell that with the RC-25, but it's readily apparent now - the husky breathyness when Bill talks, when Beatrix narrates... it can't really be described, it has to be experienced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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